Thursday, October 29, 2009

Albatross Chicks Dying on Diet of Plastic

Albatross chicks are being fed by their parents as it should be on Midway Island. But thanks to the carelessness of man, the chicks are dying of starvation. Because the adults fly out over the vast stretch of North Pacific Ocean that has been turned into a garbage dump. They bring back what looks like food items, but in reality are pieces of floating plastic debris On this diet of human junk, tens of thousand of albatross chicks are choking to death, dying of toxicity, and starving. Midway is now part of the Papahanaumokuakea National Monument {7.29.09} and therefore these birds are federally protected. The island and its surrounding ocean must be cleaned up soon. Chris Jordan documented this outrage in a photo gallery. Warning: these photos are heartbreakingly explicit.

[photo: the untouched contents of an albatross chick's stomach]